Scottish Knights Templar USA Priory of St. Jude

We are a world wide Order of Templars.

Who and What We Are in Templar History

The Scottish Knights Templar are the spiritual and organizational descendants of those Knights Templar who existed in Scotland before the famous exile of 1307 A.D., and those Templar knights who fled to Scotland from France during the exile. As such, we claim unbroken succession from Chevalier Hugh de Payens and the other eight knights who founded the Order in 1118 A.D.

Many groups or clubs claiming Templarism do not have actual history or legitimate claim. Our history we practice, support and spread to fellow Christians. We do have documents that we do not publicly display to protect our history.

We were one of the permanent military forces in the Holy Land during the Crusades. There were never enough Templars, or Hospitallers, or Teutonic Knights to hold onto the Holy Land by themselves, however; the majority of the "secular" knights left after looting and plundering. The last major Templar garrison in the Holy Land fell during the battle of Acre in 1293; the Templars were going to surrender with a promise of safe conduct to the harbor, but when the Templar commander saw that the invading Mamluks were molesting the Christian women, he told the Mamluks that the Templars would fight to death--and that is exactly what they did, after exacting a terrible toll among the invaders.

The Order was preparing for another Crusade in 1307 when the king of France, King Philip IV, had the Templars in that country arrested on false charges of heresy. The king was virtually bankrupt and wanted the Templars' treasure; the individual knights owned nothing, but the Order had acquired considerable wealth because they were acting as international bankers. Pilgrims going to the Holy Land could deposit money in a Templar treasury and receive a "chit" in exchange; as they traveled toward Jerusalem, they could stop in Templar temples and withdraw money, with their "chits" being annotated in a special Templar cipher that indicated how much money was remaining in their accounts.

The Pope at the time, Clement V, was a virtual captive of the French king, and was unable to prevent the king from obtaining false confessions through torture. Canon law, by the way, prohibited torturing members of a religious Order, but the king was not dissuaded. As soon as the torture stopped, however, the Templars recanted their false confessions, and were then burned at the stake. That was also the fate of our Grandmaster, Jacques de Molay, who was burned at the stake along with the Preceptor of Normandy. Before their torturous slow burning, history mentions Demolay’s alleged curse on King Phillip and Pope Clement to join him in death. History records that the Pope died a month later, and the king of France died four months later allegedly gored by a wild boar in a hunting accident. It is now known that Pope Clement exonerated the Templars in a secret trial held at Chinon castle; the document that records the exoneration of the Templars is now known as the “Chinon document,” and is in the Vatican archives.

The importance of mentioning these facts pertain to the history of the warrior-monk Templars who fought nobly in the Crusades for a Christian cause, and fought even to the death in their BELIEF and FAITH in Christianity, which in itself ridicules the allegations many were tortured for.

The Order fled to Portugal and Scotland. Those knights who reached Portugal simply changed their names to the "Knights of Christ". Some simply retired, or joined the Hospitallers. In Scotland they were welcomed by King Robert the Bruce, himself excommunicated by the Catholic Church, and helped to train his forces for their encounter at Bannockburn. A group of Templars led a charge into the English formations, and thus helped to win not only the Battle of Bannockburn, but also independence for Scotland. Because the Catholic Church had suppressed the Order, it went from a papal Order to an Order serving the King of Scots. Although the Scottish Templars now served a secular ruler, they never forgot their ecclesiastical roots, and vowed to continue serving Christ and His church on earth. After his excommunication was lifted, Robert the Bruce combined the Scottish Knights Templar with the Knight Hospitallers in Scotland, per the instruction of the new pope, but the Scottish Templars nevertheless retained a strong, separate identity. In fact, the only real change for the Scottish Templars, other than losing some land holdings to the Hospitallers, was that the Red Cross on their mantles changed slightly from a Latin cross to what many call the Maltese cross.

Scottish history and Templarism have been intertwined since 1307 A.D. James Graham, 5th Earl of Montrose, was a Templar who was hanged because of his right for religious freedom. Viscount Bonnie Dundee was killed at the Battle of Killiecrankie while wearing the Templar Cross, and Prince Bonnie Prince Charlie was a Templar when he tried to restore the Stuart line in 1745.

The Scottish Knights Templar Priory in the United States is part of the Confederation of Scottish Knights Templar, which has its headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland. The head of the Scottish Confederation is Chef Mondial and Grand Prior General James J. P. McGrath.

We are focused on two principal goals:

To perform charitable works for the poor, the sick, the elderly and helpless, and;

To defend the persecuted church.
We are about a holy commitment to serve the Lord Jesus Christ with all of our heart and soul.

We have five rules within our Order:

1. The Temple and Service thereof

—“Remember, brothers, that we are the descendants of the ‘Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ’ who first held their meetings in the precincts of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. We must contemplate the word and meaning of the Temple. Remember also that we are but rough stones and must continuously work to build our own Temple with the smooth stones within us.”

2. The Love of Meditation

—“Recognize with gladness that we are neither lost, nor strangers to God, but one of His good creatures, and in our Temple we shall meet people from many nations and religions. There is no shame in seeking God; forget not when we ponder that God’s Temple is our own being. God will not look for us, but we first must seek Him. Each day, time must be put aside for meditation and prayers for our Order and its work.”

3. Discipline

—“The principles of St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s life are still valid today. We must care for body and soul. Work happily, but with humility and at all times honor your fellow man.”

4. Knightly Combat

—“Our white garments decorated with the Blood Red Cross remind each of us that we must be capable of making sacrifices. Do not strive for worldly wealth—perhaps tomorrow we might have to give account of ourselves. We shall not know, until it is too late, for excuses are not acceptable to the Greatest Being, Almighty God.”

5. Brotherhood

—“Each day we must help our brethren for whom we are responsible, for one day God will say, ‘Where is thy Brother?’ Accept no reward, always be a pillar of the Temple, for all the Order holds for us is the opportunity to flee the sins of the world, to live charitably, to be penitent, and above all, to be the servant of Almighty God.”

As true Templars, we must always be prepared for battle in either the temporal or spiritual realms. Our oaths require moral courage and our way of life demands dedication to our knightly ideals. The true knight is, of course, humble before the Lord and his fellow man. If a true Templar would boast about anything, he boasts in our Lord!

Knighthood in the 21st century

When most people think about knights, they think of feudal knights serving a sovereign or devoting themselves to a lady. Probably the most famous knights of all time were King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table. These knights served their king and also went on sacred quests to find the Holy Grail; the German writer Wolfram von Eschenbach, in his immortal medieval work Parzifal, equated the Grail Knights with the Knights Templar. Both the Grail Knights of Arthur’s realm and the Knights Templar were dedicated to achieving purity of heart: the spiritual attribute that would allow one to have a vision of the Grail—or to see God, as the Beatitudes stated.

The essential quality of knighthood was complete devotion to one’s sovereign, in the case of secular knights, or complete devotion to Jesus Christ and His church, in the case of knights belonging to one of the religious Orders. Knights of both types devoted themselves to skill of arms. In fact, the term virtue once referred to a knight’s skill with his sword and other weapons, rather than to morality or character traits as it does today. Whether religious or secular, however, a knight was expected to be unrelenting in battle, fearless in the face of hopeless odds, and magnanimous in victory.

Knights are not just a thing of the past, however. There are a number of chivalric Orders that exist today. The British monarchy still grants knighthoods, as does the Papacy. Two religious Orders that still grant knighthoods are the Knights of Malta (Order of St. John) and the Scottish Knights Templar. In all cases where a secular knighthood is granted, it is for exceptional service to the sovereign or to certain worthwhile causes, while knighthoods granted by religious Orders are in recognition of service to God and one’s fellow man.

The traditional role of the knight was to defend the defenseless, to be pious in worship and in dealings with others, and to maintain one’s personal honor above all costs. Such knightly values might seem out of place in the 21st century, with so much emphasis on “me,” money, and materialism—but a few individuals still believe life is truly not worth living unless it serves a higher purpose. Such individuals believe that “living into a holy life,” and not material success, is the most important thing to which we can aspire. These are the kind of men and women that we are seeking to join the Scottish Knights Templar!

What are the reasons, however, for having knights in the 21st century?

First, there is the matter of commitment. As opposed to the past, most modern institutions do not ask much in the way of commitment. In the past, people were asked to give more of themselves to the church and to the community; in many cases today, all that we are asked to give is money. There are few things in the modern age that ask for personal loyalty, or that reciprocate loyalty in turn. Seemingly, there is little expectation that people want to commit themselves to anything, or to receive a commitment in return. The man or woman who would become a knight, however, feels unfulfilled in such a world. These men and women are looking for something to give themselves to wholeheartedly, something in which to invest all of their heart, mind, and soul. Just as importantly, they are looking for something that will reciprocate their loyalty and devotion.

Those who become knights know that although there are government agencies and private charities to fight poverty, and militaries and police agencies to fight the enemies of our country and its citizens, these are not enough. They know that unless good men and good women take personal responsibility for making the world a better place to live, not all the organizations and agencies in existence will keep the forces of darkness at bay.

Knighthood takes the concept of personal responsibility to the “next level.” Knowing that many of their fellow men and women will do nothing, those who aspire to knighthood believe that it is incumbent upon them to do that much more.

One example is poverty. As our Lord said, “The poor you will always have with you.” For all of the programs administered by the government, and charities operated by the churches and other organizations, there will always be the poor. We should not, however, let the existence of “programs” give us an excuse for inaction. The true knight has internalized the story about the “Good Samaritan,” and helps the poor or disadvantaged whenever he or she can. It is not necessary to always give money—a knight’s most precious gift may be his or her time, which may be spent teaching the illiterate how to read, or driving elderly persons to a doctor’s appointment. A true knight should never walk past someone who is truly in need without trying to help! Never. That is a knight’s creed.

A knight however, is distinguished from those who merely dispense aid to the poor and disadvantaged. That distinguishing feature is the willingness to engage in “knightly combat,” the battle against evil.

It will take men and women with the dedication of true knights to make the changes that are needed. It will take men and women with the courage of true knights to stand up and be counted, and to demand accountability from our respective governments on their relations with countries that persecute Christians. It will take men and woman like those of the Scottish Knights Templar.

Our Order was founded in 1118 A.D. to protect Christians journeying to and from the Holy Land. Later, the Order was responsible for protecting Christians in the Holy Land itself. We have stayed true to our original charter by defending the persecuted church in foreign lands. Our mission is just as compelling today, if not more so, than it was 885 years ago.

Our Order believes that there is still a place for knights in the 21st century. We believe there will always be a place for knights as long as there is poverty, the needs of the elderly, the sick, the helpless, and the persecution of the church. This is not a question: “Do I have time?” Or, “I will get to that soon.” This is not subject to negotiation or scheduling. Fellowship and aid to the less fortunate, the helpless are a Templar’s duty, his sworn duty. His code of honor demands the core of knighthood in it’s unquestionable obligation to help the poor, the sick, the persecuted, the old, the needy, the helpless, the hungry, the cold, the unprotected. These duties are not stipulations; they are a code gladly taken by a Templar Knight. If one attempts to join our Order merely as a fraternity “club”, or for a title, that or anything else could never make he or she a Knight Templar.